Ole Miss stuns Arkansas with last-second shot, but John Calipari doesn’t care

Arkansas head coach John Calipari made headlines this week with his comments about the SEC Tournament. The longtime Kentucky head coach has won the conference tournament six times across his 15 years in Lexington, and he credits that success to a laissez-faire attitude. 

“I don't care about the conference tournament, which is why we won it so many times,” Calipari told Arkansas broadcaster, Chuck Barrett. Adding, "Because I could care less. The tournament that matters is the NCAA Tournament. Now, you play that tournament to get the best seed you can get. And if you're going to get to the Finals, win.” 

Well, hopefully for Calipari’s sake, that perspective will take the sting out of Thursday afternoon’s result. In a second-round matchup between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds, the Razorbacks trailed by eight at halftime but stormed back to take a second-half lead. 

Then, freshman forward Billy Richmond missed a last-second layup to take the lead, but Trevon Brazile was fouled on the rebound. The third-year Razorback who stayed in Arkansas through the transition from Eric Musselman to Calipari, made the first but missed the second, leaving the score even at 80. After that, well, it’s March, so naturally, madness ensued. 

Senior point guard Sean Pedulla, a first year Rebel after spending three seasons at Virginia Tech, knocked down the game-winning three with under two seconds left. It was Pedulla’s first made three-pointer of the night after starting 0-6 from deep and he finished just 4-12 from the field for 10 points. 

Ole Miss now advances to play No. 1 seed Auburn in the quarterfinals tomorrow, and Arkansas will have to sweat it out on Selection Sunday, but apparently Coach Cal isn’t worried. He has now been eliminated from five straight SEC Tournaments and hasn’t advanced past the first weekend of the tournament that matters since 2019, so maybe he should start to.